Diver Ocean Ramsey (@oceanramsey) swims next to a female great white shark off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii on January 15, 2019. Great white sharks are extremely rare in Hawaii and this individual may be one of the largest recorded, it shows similar markings to “Deep Blue” a shark Ocean Ramsey studied in Isla Guadalupe, Mexico where she has done most of her work with white sharks. Shark populations around Hawaii are declining and there are no laws to protect sharks from being killed for their fins. The @OneOceanDiving research team study shark behavior and teach people how to avoid adverse interactions. Their research and work aims to help reduce shark related fatalities and educate others on the importance of sharks.

@oceanramsey / http://OneOceanDiving.Com / AFP

Divers spot giant white shark off Hawaii coast

(Agence France-Presse) - January 18, 2019 - 8:06am

An enormous great white shark — believed to be one of the biggest on record — has been spotted off the coast of Hawaii by divers who took a swim with the predator.

The 20-foot (six-meter) female shark — bearing similar markings as "Deep Blue," the largest great white shark recorded — made its surprise appearance on Tuesday, joining other sharks feasting on a sperm whale carcass off Oahu.

"We saw a few (tiger sharks) and then she came up and all the other sharks split, and she started brushing up against the boat," said Ocean Ramsey, one of the divers, recounting the extraordinary encounter to the Honolulu Star Adviser.

"She was just this big beautiful gentle giant wanting to use our boat as a scratching post," added Ramsey, who swam with the shark all day and captured stunning pictures. "We went out at sunrise, and she stayed with us pretty much throughout the day."

Ramsey said the animal, believed to be at least 50 years old and weighting an estimated 2.5 tons, was "shockingly wide" and may be pregnant.

Sightings of great white sharks are rare in Hawaii, where the water is too warm.

"Deep Blue," which has her own Twitter account and was the subject of a documentary several years ago, had previously been spotted around Guadalupe Island off Mexico.

Before President Rodrigo Duterte left Thursday for his one-on-one with President Xi Jinping in Beijing, he promised to “invoke” the 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague that resolved some maritime disputes between the two neighbors.

Eight warships, four aircraft and more than a thousand personnel from the US and ten Southeast Asian countries will join maritime drills kicking off Monday, as part of a joint exercise extending into the flashpoint South China Sea.

China has rejected as “unwelcome” the call of the United Kingdom, France and Germany on the South China Sea claimants to respect the arbitration ruling of 2016 and the rules-based framework laid out in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).